


Night Habits

by Lwoorl



Series: Talon!Dick Grayson Series [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Dick Grayson is a Talon, Gen, No editing we die like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 08:19:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16237742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lwoorl/pseuds/Lwoorl
Summary: Damian has a nightmare and goes to Dick's room to feel better. It's not the same as before.





	Night Habits

**Author's Note:**

> idk

Damian stands in front of the door, his hand hovering on top of the knob. He plays with the sleeve of his pajamas and bites his lip before deciding that this hesitation is stupid and opens it.

He takes three steps inside and closes the door behind him before being struck by a pair of cold, inhuman, yellow eyes.

“You're awake” He mumbles, trying not to look away from Grayson's eyes, it's still his brother, he tells himself, no matter what he looks like now. He just got into a fight with Drake that afternoon because the imbecile won't stop flinching whenever Grayson speaks, for God's sake! He can't allow himself to fall to the same level as fucking _Drake_ _._

The man blinks, once, twice, and after a moment of silence that is just long enough to feel wrong, he speaks.

“I don't need to sleep.” His voice is mechanical, impersonal. Nothing like it was before all of this, and Damian suppresses a shiver.

“...Alright.”

Damian fidgets with the hem of his shirt, unsure of what he even came here for. He thought… He thought that now that Grayson was allowed upstairs again, now that he _finally_ started to speak once more…

It's an habit, an old, childish, stupid habit: To go to Grayson's room for comfort when he has a nightmare, and let him hug him back to sleep. Even when his brother isn't in Gotham he usually would at least climb on Grayson's bed, and it would still help to calm him down.

No one ever mentions it, even if the whole family probably knows about it at this point, no one has ever called him out on such a childish behavior, so, it just continued going on, and it became an habit. Just an habit, an automatic response, no thought put into it… And now. Now Damian isn't sure what to do.

Non of them know for sure how much Grayson actually remembers, not even now that he's started to speak a little. He won't answer to most of their questions, and even Cain has a hard time knowing what he's thinking. Some of his actions suggest he at least knows who they are, where he is, and if his father let Grayson outside of the cave it means there's no danger he will hurt anyone or run away, so when Damian woke up from a nightmare that he doesn't even remember now, he didn't stop to think he might not be able to continue with this stupid habit anymore.

He hates it. They got Grayson back, they were supposed to get him back, but now that his brother is here again Damian isn't sure where he stands. Feeling like he has to tiptoe around the man he could so easily approach before, he doesn't know where the new boundaries are, if there are any, he doesn't know how to bring his brother back to normal, or just how to interact with him now that he's like this. It makes him feel as if Grayson was a stranger and he won't admit it to anyone, but it hurts.

Standing in the middle of his brother's room, looking at eyes that should be blue but aren't, there's a second in which Damian thinks of going back to his room, to pretend this never happened, but he shoots that thought down as soon as it appears, he's always been bad at backing down. He isn't going to be intimidated by Grayson's presence of all people.

He swallows and without any other comment climbs on Grayson's bed, there's no need to ask for permission, this is Grayson, not some stranger, and Damian's never asked him for permission for stuff like this, he isn't going to start now. Absently, he remembers Pennyworth saying something about how normality could help Grayson on his recovery, right after father gave him the all clear to get out of the cave.

Grayson's eyes follow him as he climbs on the bed and gets under the covers, but other than that he doesn't react. Damian lies there, close but without touching him, and when the hug never comes he scoots closer until his forehead is resting against Grayson's chest. It's cold, not like ice, not enough to make him freeze, but it's still cold, like a piece of metal or plastic left untouched in a cool room on winter. It feels wrong, Grayson has always been warm, so warm his hugs are unbearable on summer, another reminder of how much has changed.

Damian supposes it's because he doesn't produce body heat anymore. He wouldn't know for sure though, father won't let him read any of the tests.

It isn't exactly comfortable, but he finds out staying like this does help, if only a little. He starts to think that, after this, he could retire to his room and get a good night worth of sleep, but then Grayson moves his arm and Damian can't bring himself to move.

It's one single movement, Grayson puts his hand on top of Damian's head, there isn't any other reaction, any other proof of acknowledgement, his face retains the same blank expression he's barely changed since he came back, but his hand is on top of Damian's head, his hand is on top of Damian's head, _his hand is on top of Damian's head_. As far as Damian knows of, this is the first time since he got back that Grayson's touched someone by his own volition without needing to, and it makes it hard to breathe.

Suddenly Grayson moves his fingers through Damian's hair, the exact same way he always had, the way he used to, and if Damian was anyone else he would cry.

As it turns out though, Damian isn't anyone else, so, even though he feels his throat ache and a pressure forming behind his eyes, his face remains dry, and instead, he presses his body against his brother's and grasps a handful of his shirt.

He closes his eyes and starts to fall asleep. Grayson isn't warm anymore, and it's a bit uncomfortable, like hugging a rock, but he's been trained to sleep anywhere and to resist extreme temperatures, sleeping a bit cold isn't a big price to pay if he can hug his brother again, not at all.

When he's about to lose consciousness, for half a second, he feels something wet pressing against his forehead, and it takes him a moment to register it's a kiss.

If when Damian wakes up the next day Grayson's shirt is damp and Damian's face is a bit wet, he will deny that he cried from here to his grave.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder that my self worth is directly tied to the validation I get for the stuff I make and that I feed of comments, like a vampire, but with review instead of blood


End file.
